Animal Anesthetization Device and Method

ABSTRACT

An animal anesthetization device facilitates anesthetization of an animal, or simultaneous anesthetization of a litter of animals, prior to a procedure such as tail docking, castration, or the like. The device includes a box having a bottom wall and a perimeter wall coupled to and extending upwardly from the bottom wall defining an interior space. A lid is coupled to the box wherein the interior space is selectively enclosed. A valve is coupled to the box. A canister has a dispensing nozzle which is selectively engageable to the valve wherein contents of the canister are dispensed into the interior space of the box. An anesthetizing agent is positioned in the canister and dispensed into the box to anesthetize one or more animals in the box.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of pending application Ser. No. 13/782,356 filed Mar. 1, 2013.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure relates to animal anesthetizing devices and more particularly pertains to a new animal anesthetizing device for facilitating anesthetization of an animal, or simultaneous anesthetization of a litter of animals, prior to a procedure such as tail docking, castration, or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a box having a bottom wall and a perimeter wall coupled to and extending upwardly from the bottom wall defining an interior space. A lid is coupled to the box wherein the interior space is selectively enclosed. A valve is coupled to the box. A canister has a dispensing nozzle which is selectively engageable to the valve wherein contents of the canister are dispensed into the interior space of the box. An anesthetizing agent is positioned in the canister and dispensed into the box to anesthetize one or more animals in the box.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top front side perspective view of a animal anesthetization device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 5 thereof, a new animal anesthetizing device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the animal anesthetization device 10 generally comprises a box 12 having a bottom wall 14 and a perimeter wall 16 coupled to and extending upwardly from the bottom wall 14 defining an interior space 18. A lid 20 is selectively coupled to the box 12 wherein the interior space 18 is enclosed when desired. When the lid 20 is removed from the box 12, an animal to be anesthetized may be placed into the interior space 18.

A valve 22 is coupled to the box 12. A canister 24 is provided having a dispensing nozzle 26. The dispensing nozzle 26 is selectively engageable to the valve 22 wherein contents 28 of the canister 24 are dispensed into the interior space 18 of the box 12 when the dispensing nozzle 26 is engaged to the valve 22. An anesthetizing agent 30 is positioned in the canister 24. The amount of anesthetizing agent 30 may comprise a single dose of the anesthetizing agent 30 relative to the size of the interior space 18 of the box 12. The anesthetizing agent 30 is dispensed from the canister 24 when the dispensing nozzle 26 is engaged to the valve 22. Thus, the animal in the box 12 is anesthetized sufficiently to facilitate handling of the animal and inhibit pain experienced by the animal during a subsequently performed procedure including but not limited to tail docking, castration, teeth clipping, ear notching, needle injection, or the like.

The lid 20 may fully cover the box 12. The valve 22 extends through the lid 20 wherein the canister 24 is in an inverted position 38 when the dispensing nozzle 26 is engaged to the valve 22. The dispensing nozzle 26 is positioned at a bottom 56 of an interior space 58 of the canister 24 when the canister 24 is in the inverted position 38. The anesthetizing agent 30 is a liquid in the canister 24 such that the anesthetizing agent 30 moves to the bottom 56 of the interior space 58 of the canister 24 in the inverted position 38. When the dispensing nozzle 26 is coupled to the valve 22, the anesthetizing agent 30 is released into the interior space 18 of the box 12 as a mist or gas to be inhaled by the animal in the interior space 18 of the box 12. The anesthetizing agent 30 is dispensed through the dispensing nozzle 26 in an effective amount allowing for performance of the desired procedure or procedures and quick recovery from the anesthetic agent 30 after the procedure has been performed. A propellant 48 is positioned in the canister 24. The propellant 48 facilitates dispensation of the anesthetizing agent 30 from the canister 24 when the dispensing nozzle 26 is coupled to the valve 22.

A restrictor 34 is coupled to the valve 22 or directly to the dispensing nozzle 26 of the canister 24. The restrictor 34 has an opening 36 therethrough sized such that the anesthetizing agent 30 is dispensed through the opening 36 in the restrictor 34 at a pre-selected desired rate to give the anesthetizing agent 30 time to produce the desired effect. Thus, the anesthetizing agent 30 anesthetizes the animal in the interior space 18 of the box 12.

A single dose or an effective amount, for purposes of the disclosed invention, is an amount of the anesthetizing agent 30 sufficient to create the desired effect of anesthetization to one or more animals in the interior space 18. The anesthetizing agent 30 may be isoflurane producing a concentration of between 1% and 8% within the interior space 18 of the box 12 when the anesthetizing agent 30 is dispensed into the interior space 18 of the box 12. Alternatively, the anesthetizing agent 30 may be nitrous oxide producing a concentration of between 10% and 50% nitrous oxide within the interior space 18 of the box 12 when the anesthetizing agent 30 is dispersed into the interior space 18 of the box 12. Other alternative concentration of anesthetics are 1-8% desflurane, 1-8% enflurane, 0.5-5% halothane, and 0.5-5% sevoflurane. The box 12 is sized such that effective amounts of the anesthetizing agent 30 in the box 12 is not sufficiently large to be a health concern even if fully released from the canister 24 into ambient air outside of the box 12 but is sufficient to achieve the desired result of anesthetization for one or more animals having a total weight of between 0.3 kilograms and 9.5 kilograms. Thus, individual canisters 24 may be bought, stored, and shipped more easily than large containers requiring hazardous material permits or the like. The box 12 may be sized such that a volume of the interior space 18 is between 40 liters and 200 liters. Thus, the box 12 may be sized to accommodate full litters of pigs simultaneously for efficiency in administering the anesthetic agent 30 as well as allowing a user to keep whole litters together minimizing the time the litter is away from the mother and reducing the opportunity for mixing of individual animals between litters.

A cavity 50 is positioned on a dispensing end 52 of the canister 24. The dispensing nozzle 26 is positioned in the cavity 50. An exterior wall 54 of the dispensing nozzle 26 is threaded. The valve 22 has complimentary threading wherein the canister 24 is threadedly coupled to the box 12 for dispensing the contents of the canister 24 into the interior space 18 of the box 12.

A vent aperture 40 extends through the box 12. A vent closure 42 such as a conventional one-way valve is coupled to the box 12. The vent closure 42 selectively seals the vent aperture 40 wherein the interior space 18 of the box 12 is sealed when the lid 20 is in a closed position 44 and the vent closure 42 is in a closed position. As stated above, the interior space 18 of the box 12 may be vented safely through the vent aperture 40 directly to ambient air. Alternatively, an exhaust mechanism 46 may be coupled to the box 12. The exhaust mechanism 46 is environmentally coupled to the vent closure 42 wherein gaseous contents of the interior space 18 of the box 12 are vented through the vent aperture 40 when the exhaust mechanism 46 is actuated.

In use, the assembly 10 provides for a method 60 of anesthetizing an animal for pain mitigation when performing a procedure such as tail docking, ear notching, teeth clipping, castration, or the like. The method 60 requires no measuring of anesthetics to be dispensed as effective doses provided in the canister 24 are pre-measured and may be marked on the canister 24. A new canister 24 is used each time. Multiple canisters 24 may be provided with varied degrees of concentration relative to the volume of the box 12 with the particular concentration and anesthetic used marked on the individual canister 24. The first step 62 is having the box 12, the valve 22 in environmental communication with the box 12, and the canister 24 as generally described above. Minimally, the box 12 may be as described above but needs only to provide the sealable interior space 18. Another step 64 is placing an animal to be anesthetized in the interior space 18 of the box 12. A subsequent step 66 is sealing the animal within the interior space 18 of the box 12. Still another step 68 is coupling the canister 24 to the valve 22 wherein the anesthetizing agent 30 is dispensed into the sealed interior space of the box 12 wherein the animal is anesthetized. A step 70 may be provided of completely dispensing contents of the canister 24 into the interior space 18 of the box 12 upon coupling of the dispensing nozzle 26 to the valve 22 wherein the contents of the canister 24 provide effective concentrations of the anesthetizing agent 30 relative to a volume of the interior space 18 within the box 12. Still another step 72 is venting the interior space 18 of the box 12 after anesthetizing the animal and prior to removing the lid 20 from the box 12. The method 60 may be applied to multiple animals being anesthetized together in the box 12 using a single canister 24. This allows a group of animals, such as a single litter of pigs, to be kept together as a group for anesthetization and the subsequent procedure. Thus, the device 10 and method 60 provide for efficiency in performance of the procedures and reduce the opportunity for mixing of individual animals between litters.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements. 

I claim:
 1. An animal anesthetization device comprising: a box having a bottom wall and a perimeter wall coupled to and extending upwardly from said bottom wall defining an interior space; a lid selectively coupled to said box wherein said interior space is enclosed; a valve coupled to said box; a canister having a dispensing nozzle, said dispensing nozzle being selectively engageable to said valve wherein contents of said canister are dispensed into said interior space of said box when said dispensing nozzle is engaged to said valve; and an anesthetizing agent positioned in said canister.
 2. The device of claim 1, further comprising said valve extending through said lid wherein said canister is in an inverted position when said dispensing nozzle is engaged to said valve.
 3. The device of claim 2, further comprising: said dispensing nozzle being positioned at a bottom of an interior space of said canister when said canister is in said inverted position; and said anesthetizing agent being a liquid in said canister.
 4. The device of claim 2, further comprising a restrictor coupled to said valve, said restrictor having an opening therethrough sized such that said anesthetizing agent is dispensed through said restrictor at a pre-selected rate wherein said anesthetizing agent anesthetizes an animal in said interior space of said box.
 5. The device of claim 1, further comprising said anesthetizing agent being nitrous oxide producing a concentration of between 10% and 50% nitrous oxide within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is dispersed into said interior space of said box.
 6. The device of claim 1, further comprising said anesthetizing agent being isoflurane producing a concentration of between 1% and 8% within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is dispensed into said interior space of said box.
 7. The device of claim 1, further comprising: a vent aperture extending through said box; a vent closure coupled to said box, said vent closure selectively sealing said vent aperture wherein said interior space of said box is sealed when said lid is in a closed position and said vent closure is in a closed position; and an exhaust mechanism coupled to said box, said exhaust mechanism being environmentally coupled to said vent closure wherein gaseous contents of said interior space of said box is vented through said vent aperture when said exhaust mechanism is actuated.
 8. The device of claim 1, further comprising a propellant being positioned in said canister, said propellant facilitating dispensation of said anesthetizing agent from said canister when said dispensing nozzle is coupled to said valve.
 9. The device of claim 1, further comprising a cavity positioned on a dispensing end of said canister, said dispensing nozzle being positioned in said cavity.
 10. The device of claim 9, further comprising: an exterior wall of said dispensing nozzle being threaded; and said valve having complimentary threading wherein said canister is threadedly coupled to said box for dispensing said contents of said canister into said interior space of said box.
 11. The device of claim 1, further comprising said anesthetizing agent being desflurane producing a concentration of between 1% and 8% within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is dispensed into said interior space of said box.
 12. The device of claim 1, further comprising said anesthetizing agent being enflurane producing a concentration of between 1% and 8% within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is dispensed into said interior space of said box.
 13. The device of claim 1, further comprising said anesthetizing agent being halothane producing a concentration of between 0.5% and 5% within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is dispensed into said interior space of said box.
 14. The device of claim 1, further comprising said anesthetizing agent being sevoflurane producing a concentration of between 0.5% and 5% within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is dispensed into said interior space of said box.
 15. An animal anesthetizing device comprising: a box having a bottom wall and a perimeter wall coupled to and extending upwardly from said bottom wall defining an interior space; a lid selectively coupled to said box wherein said interior space is enclosed; a valve coupled to said box, said valve extending through said lid wherein said canister is in an inverted position when said dispensing nozzle is engaged to said valve; a canister having a dispensing nozzle, said dispensing nozzle being selectively engageable to said valve wherein contents of said canister are dispensed into said interior space of said box when said dispensing nozzle is engaged to said valve, said dispensing nozzle being positioned at a bottom of an interior space of said canister when said canister is in said inverted position; an anesthetizing agent positioned in said canister, said anesthetizing agent being one anesthetizing agent selected from a group of anesthetizing agents consisting of nitrous oxide, isoflurane, desflurane, enflurane, halothane, and sevoflurane, said anesthetizing agent being a liquid in said canister, said anesthetizing agent producing a concentration of between 10% and 50% nitrous oxide within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is nitrous oxide dispersed into said interior space of said box, said anesthetizing agent producing a concentration of between 1% and 8% isoflurane within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is isoflurane dispensed into said interior space of said box, said anesthetizing agent producing a concentration of between 1% and 8% desflurane within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is desflurane dispensed into said interior space of said box, said anesthetizing agent producing a concentration of between 1% and 8% enflurane within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is enflurane dispensed into said interior space of said box, said anesthetizing agent producing a concentration of between 0.5% and 5% halothane within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is halothane dispensed into said interior space of said box, and said anesthetizing agent producing a concentration of between 0.5% and 5% sevoflurane within said interior space of said box when said anesthetizing agent is sevoflurane dispensed into said interior space of said box; a restrictor coupled to said valve, said restrictor having an opening therethrough sized such that said anesthetizing agent is dispensed through said restrictor as a pre-selected rate wherein said anesthetizing agent anesthetizes an animal in said interior space of said box; a vent aperture extending through said box; a vent closure coupled to said box, said vent closure selectively sealing said vent aperture wherein said interior space of said box is sealed when said lid is in a closed position and said vent closure is in a closed position; an exhaust mechanism coupled to said box, said exhaust mechanism being environmentally coupled to said vent closure wherein gaseous contents of said interior space of said box is vented through said vent aperture when said exhaust mechanism is actuated; a propellant being positioned in said canister, said propellant facilitating dispensation of said anesthetizing agent from said canister when said dispensing nozzle is coupled to said valve; a cavity positioned on a dispensing end of said canister, said dispensing nozzle being positioned in said cavity; an exterior wall of said dispensing nozzle being threaded; and said valve having complimentary threading wherein said canister is threadedly coupled to said box for dispensing said contents of said canister into said interior space of said box.
 16. A method of anesthetizing an animal, the steps of the method comprising: having a box with a sealable interior space, a valve being in environmental communication with said interior space of said box, and a canister having a dispensing nozzle and containing a single effective dose of an anesthetizing agent within said canister; placing an animal to be anesthetized in said interior space; sealing said animal within said interior space; and coupling said canister to said valve wherein said anesthetizing agent is dispensed into said sealed interior space of said box wherein the animal is anesthetized.
 17. The method of claim 16, the steps of the method further comprising completely dispensing contents of said canister into said interior space of said box upon coupling of said dispensing nozzle to said valve wherein said contents of said canister provide effective concentrations of said anesthetizing agent relative to a volume of said interior space within said box. 